Kiki Shiramaru
Kiki Shiramaru (死羅丸輝輝, shiramaru kiki; Translation, "Brilliance, Death's Silk of Perfection) is the Captain of the Eigth Division, having succeeded its position from Captain Commander Shunsui Kyōraku after the war's end. Appearance: Kiki is a statuesque woman of great stature for a woman. Being six and a half feet tall, her slender waist, smooth arms, and long legs promote a powerful elegance that few can compare to. Long black hair is left freely to flow over her shoulders and rest just short of her heels, often hiding the insignia of her Haori when donned on her person. With fair skin with a complexion of cream and eyes of piercing silver, her angular face and high cheekbones frame her supple lips and mesmerizing eyes of which that have sharply trimmed brows give her a lethal beauty. A healthy sized bosom and a well-toned pair of buns, Kiki is befitting as her title of "Kisaki no Jōshigun," (Queen of the Amazonians.) Kiki's attire has very few changes of her own to make it different from her colleagues' wear. A white long sleeved coat that is the Haori drapes over her back and shoulders nearly at all times, one of which she prefers to be immaculate and without any scuffs. Her tightly bound breasts are concealed by her kosode, only slightly exposed by a V slip resting at her sternum to show the crevice in her attire revealing her ample cleavage (one she constantly readjusts to hide from her peers and admirers). A dark red sash wraps around her waist, holding her indigo threaded hilt and black scabbarded Zanpakutō on her right hip. Her hakama flows over her slender legs to her ankles, revealing her tower clog black dyed sandals of which she is bare footed when doing so. Personality: Shiramaru's personality is one of formality and discipline, but doesn't dissuade informal behavior. When in the midst of her troops she expects one hundred percent effort till their assigned duties are complete. If someone crosses her, she employs bizarre yet harshly effective punishment for which no one speaks about, making her especially intimidating to those who don't know her. But if one was to follow the rules and keep to their duties, she has no problem being a little more relaxed around them. On her own, she enjoys peace and quiet, using the time she isn't spending organizing her barracks' duties to meditate after a brief bout of training on her own time. Believing in oneness with the spirit as much as the body and heart, she often seeks out books or studies that profit enlightenment and quiet her soul. Since this is an eternal quest for her, it isn't unnatural for her to sometimes suffer with bouts of tempermental breakdowns when someone intrudes needlessly into her "personal time". One thing her peers seem to forget is how touchy she is about her name. As she normally approaches people formally, she expects those of equal rank or stature if not less so to follow that protocol. If someone were to address her as "Kiki" instead of "Captain Shiramaru" or "Shiramaru-san,", she will harshly correct them. If they continue to prod her buttons, she'll outright explode at them and insist on being named Shiramaru or fear her "punishments" she has for those who cross her. History: Shiramaru was born and raised within a lesser noble family within the Seireitei. Since her family has been involved with the Gotei 13 for some time, it was expected of her since birth to master her inherited abilities as a Shinigami. This restrained her childhood to studies and games involving her awakening her potential, only becoming serious when at the age of eight she managed to manifest her own Reishi by will rather than instinct. From then on, she was told to practice and harness these abilities while being schooled in the arts of Shinigami combat as well as academics till she reached an age of maturity. She had very few friends growing up but managed to make acquaintence with a few people from the Shinō Academy. Upon entering, she found that even with her hard earned preparation it was still rigorous work earning a place within the Gotei 13. To her surprise, her skills were valued so highly within the arts of Kidō that she was selected by the Kidō Corps Commander. From there she was hidden from view and solemnly instructed in the arts of spellcasting, deep within the bowels of the Soul Society. It wasn't until fifty years passed that Shiramaru requested a chance to prove herself as a potential candidate for Captaincy. Upon reccommendation, she was overseen and approved by a selection of currently enlisted Captains before her approval was given that she be granted the rank of Captain. When asked prior to her knowledge of attaining the rank, she simply said she wanted to do her family proud and honor the title should she be given it. From this point on, she was given dominion over the Eigth Division, where she took up the currently active Lieutenant, Naomi Shirogane. Power & Attributes: High Reiryoku: For a Captain, Shiramaru has a formidable volume of Reiryoku at her disposal. This has been proven on a number of occasions in which her anger was vented, if not needlessly, through her output of Reiatsu that cracked the earth around her proximity. Capable of prolonging its relevance instead of needlessly wasting it in expense of flaunting strength, Shiramaru is someone who's worked hard to obtain the level of power she has and will keep working on climbing even higher plateaus of strength. High Endurance: Despite being less adept at hand-to-hand combat, Shiramaru is known to be hard to put down. From the countless hours honing her body as much as polishing her mind, her body has become tough enough to withstand a high yield of punishment as well as continue past the point most would think her limits be. Having been helped by using Kidō to reinforce or patch up what is lacking, Shiramaru is never one to lose herself to blood loss or unconsciousness easily. Hakuda Adept: While not a favored form of combat, Shiramaru isn't one to quickly reach for her sword without reason. For this mark of habit, Shiramaru invokes styles of martial arts that involve disabling or quick incapacitation. Using her knowledge of the Spiritronic flow of Shinigami and Hollows, Shiramaru can puncture or prod the nerve spots where the flow of Reishi is strongest or most vulnerable. In this way, Shiramaru is able to quickly best her enemies by a few taps, using the majority of her fluid motions to redirect and deflect instead of bludgeoning or breaking an opponent. Zanjutsu Adept: A method of combat that she uses in sync with her Kidō which earned her the nickname, "Kanāji Miko," (Bladed Sorceress,"). Through using her Zanpakutō as a medium for casting more dangerous and lethally effective spells, one could often confuse her Shikai's state of awakening when employing Hadō spells within the cutting edge or piercing tip of her weapon. Whether within cutting arcs or swift impaling strikes, Shiramaru's graceful form of swordsmanship fully relies upon using the proper spell of choice to benefit her in a fight, be it for show or to take down her enemies in a fashion equivalent to execution. Hohō Mastery: In order to be at the top of her game in the other three forms of Shinigami combat arts, she was instructed at a young age to perfect Shunpo before performing any other techniques. Capable in this field before even entering the Shinō Academy, Shiramaru's abilities in the Hohō Arts were only grown and refined further as decades past. Before leaving the Kidō Corps to don the mantle of Captain the fluency of Hohō is great enough that she can cross great and vast distances in a single step without wasting much Reishi in the process. Kidō Mastery: Having been accepted upon graduation from the Shinō Academy as a member of the Kidō Corps, Shiramaru was fervently schooled in the arts of Hadō, Bakudō, Barriers and even Healing Arts. Through the decades she worked on maximizing their potency while cutting down the time necessary to discharge them. A great number of both Bakudō and Hadō spells can be issued at close to near power without any utterance, giving her a quickdraw style of spellcasting whereas others would expect a more prolonged method of issuing her spells. Her ingenuity shined through her research of crossing the fabric of one spell type with another, creating destructive of defensive purposes for spells originally crafted for a given method. One such instance was when she used a barrier of repelling Kidō around her body, she was able to give herself a brief boost of endurance as well as physical force behind her attacks. This idealogy allowed her to share this knowledge with her fellow Corps members, allowing them to take new strides in creating new spells for those within the Academy and currently serving in the Gotei to benefit from immensely. It is for this reason that she was reccommended so highly in becoming a Captain in the Gotei 13. List of Notable Skills or Techniques: Zanpakutō Chame (茶目 chame): In its sealed form, Chame is a crimson tassled and hilt katana with a black sheathe placed within the left sash side of Shiramaru. It is four and a half feet in length from pommel to edge, giving it an average length. Shikai Form: Unknown Bankai: Behind the Scenes/Trivia: *In her conception, I thought it'd be a nice twist to make the replacement of a arguably lazy and laid back Captain like Kyōraku be someone like his Lieutenant, Nanao. Strict to her duties and rather be formal than slack off, her only quirks being revolved around her name and her desire to be a spiritually sound person in general. *Kiki's favorite passtimes are drinking herbal tea, meditating, training and painting. *Kiki loathes disorderlyness, laziness and sharp tongued individuals. *Kiki's favorite color and flower is the marigold. *I had thought of making her a Kidō Martial Artist at one point, but decided against it, realizing that is more or less the Commander of the Onmitsukidō's speciality. Quotes: